The first shows Teofil in a military uniform, possibly during World War I.
(Click on images to enlarge)
Images courtesy of Aneta and Zenon Grabowscy.
In the lower right-hand corner is part of the photographer's imprint. The name looks like "Moffit" and the address "346 Morrison St." Unfortunately, our correspondents' original does not include the city and state. It could be a town in Indiana; or Chicago; maybe even New Britain, Connecticut; or near whatever training camp Teofil might have been sent to. (He shows up in the "Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940" on Ancestry.com, so he must have served in the military, but I don't have any details.) He was living in East Chicago, Indiana, when his WWI draft card was filled out.
The second photo shows a group at an orphanage that Teofil supported financially.
One ring marks Teofil, standing in the back row, with his mother, Marianne, seated in front of him. The other ring marks his daughter, Aurelia, in the front row. We don't know the name or location of the orphanage, but obviously it was Catholic. Aurelia was born in September 1922 and here she looks about six years old. That would date to photo to 1928 or so (which might explain why Wanda wasn't with them: she was at home with her new baby, Edwin).
The third photo we know nothing about.
A young-looking Teofil is marked in the front row. Based on the women's fashions, I would date this roughly to 1910, 1912, which would put Teofil in his early 20s. The Methodist Episcopal Church in the background is in the U.S., evidently, since its sign is in English, but that's all we can say at this point. In his early years, Teofil spent time in Indianapolis and South Bend, and probably in New Britain, Connecticut, as well; by 1916 he was in East Chicago. I can't even try to guess where this is.
3 comments:
I tracked down a Moffitt Studio at 346 Morrison Street in Portland Oregon. The page I found said it ran from 1916-1935. The building was demolished in 1977. So he must have been stationed somewhere around Portland.
As for the churches, I don't think it's the one in South Bend. The one in South Bend was built in 1913 and that building in the background looks worn and older. It doesn't match the building in East Chicago or the one in Connecticut. My guess is that it is probably in Indianapolis but probably no longer in existence. There was a Reverend Brown who preached in the M.E. church about 20 years earlier in Kokomo, so it's hard to know if its the same one since Brown is so common a name, but Kokomo and Indianapolis are pretty close.
Thank you! You must have done a lot of work to uncover that much! I would never have guessed at Portland, Oregon. Details about Teofil's military service are awfully hard to find. (I've really been surprised by how many Teofil Grabowskis there were in this era; it doesn't seem such a common name.) Possibly contemporary newspapers might mention something, but then again, he was living in the bustling city of East Chicago at the time, and I'm not sure the newspapers aimed at that audience would tell us as much about individuals as the papers in a little town like Hobart did.
It did take a few attempts to figure out where the photography studio was. You'd think with a name and address it would be easy. I can email you the ad I found for it. Small town papers are the best for family details :)
Post a Comment